Systems and methods for processing transactions

ABSTRACT

A method comprises receiving, by a computer-based system for processing a transaction, a notification that a transaction account holder has taken an action, taking, in near real time, an action in response to the action taken by the transaction account holder, and/or communicating with a web-client associated with the transaction account holder in response to the action taken by the transaction account holder. The communicating with the web-client may occur in near real time.

FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to providing near real timenotifications in response to a variety of event triggers, and moreparticularly, to providing such notifications in response to eventtriggers performed by transaction account holders.

BACKGROUND

A transaction account holder may perform an action, such as swiping atransaction account instrument (e.g., a credit card) through a point ofsale terminal (“POS”). The POS may read the transaction accountinstrument and communicate with a transaction account issuer (e.g.,transaction account issuing bank in association with a card network) toauthenticate and complete the requested transaction. However, because ofthe multiple parties involved, extra databases, processing andcommunications are needed. As such, conventional systems may not offer anear real time ability to perform an action, in response to the actiontaken by the transaction account holder (e.g., the instrument “swipe”).

SUMMARY

A method comprises receiving a notification that a transaction accountholder has taken an action, taking, in near real time, an action inresponse to the action taken by the transaction account holder, and/orcommunicating with a web-client associated with the transaction accountholder, in response to the action taken by the transaction accountholder. The communicating with the web-client may occur in near realtime. The computer-based system may communicate a transaction balance tothe web-client in response to the action taken by the transactionaccount holder. The computer-based system may transmit to a merchant,suggested services based upon a profile associated with the transactionaccount holder. The transaction account holder may be presented with anoption to complete the transaction using rewards points. The transactionaccount holder may be presented with an option to complete thetransaction using credit. The location of the transaction account mayalso be monitored. The location of the transaction account holder may bemonitored to tailor services to the transaction account holder.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The features and advantages of the present disclosure will become moreapparent from the detailed description set forth below when taken inconjunction with the drawings, wherein like numbers represent likecomponents:

FIG. 1 illustrates, in accordance with various embodiments, a system fortaking an action based on an action performed by a transaction accountholder;

FIG. 2 illustrates, in accordance with various embodiments, a processfor taking an action based on an action performed by a transactionaccount holder; and

FIG. 3 illustrates, in accordance with various embodiments, a processfor encouraging a transaction account holder to take an action.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description of exemplary embodiments herein makes referenceto the accompanying drawings, which show the exemplary embodiments byway of illustration and their best mode. While these exemplaryembodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilledin the art to practice the disclosure, it should be understood thatother embodiments may be realized and that logical and mechanicalchanges may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of thedisclosure. Thus, the detailed description herein is presented forpurposes of illustration only and not of limitation. For example, thesteps recited in any of the method or process descriptions may beexecuted in any order and are not limited to the order presented.Moreover, any of the functions or steps may be outsourced to orperformed by one or more third parties. Furthermore, any reference tosingular includes plural embodiments, and any reference to more than onecomponent may include a singular embodiment.

In general, the system delivers real-time outcomes driven by card spend.In various embodiments, the may use network-wide closed-loopcapabilities. The system may incorporate, for example, informationassets (e.g., closed-loop or open loop), data triggers (e.g.,real-time), flexible business rules and integration APIs. The system mayintegrate with multiple capabilities across an enterprise system. Thesystem may also include an offer ecosystem to deliver relevant,real-time events for an improved digital accountholder experience.

The system may integrate with, interpret and/or leverage theauthorization transaction. The system's use of the authorizationtransaction may go beyond just providing an approved or denied response.The system may include real interactions with accountholders acrossvarious digital platforms such as, for example, Foursquare, Facebook,Twitter, PASS, and XBOX. In response to receiving the authorizationtrigger from an authorization system, the system may integrate inreal-time with a synchronization platform, offer enrollment systems,merchant operational systems, merchant data enrichment capabilities(e.g., convert merchant code to name, address, and geo-coding forlocation), customer profiles and customer privacy. The system may thendecide on the method of customer interaction (e.g., in-app pushnotification, email, text message) and trigger the real time event.

The system may support (e.g., in real time) in-app push notifications(e.g., Foursquare), emails (e.g., Facebook and XBOX), direct messages(e.g., tweets via Twitter), spend notifications (e.g., PASS toPassbook), digital offers, offer reminders and/or relevant offers. Thesystem may connect across various internal platforms and capabilitiesand/or external partners (e.g., Foursquare, Facebook, Twitter, XBOX,Apple) to create an end-to-end flow and experience. The system maysupport use cases across multiple lines of business.

As used herein, the phrases “real time” and/or “near real time” may beused interchangeably and the like may mean any period of time after anaction is taken by a transaction account holder. For example, a periodof time from when a transaction request is received (e.g., via accountcode input or a “card swipe”) and the time a communication istransmitted to a transaction account holder. In addition, these phrasesmay mean any duration of time during which a transaction is processed.In various embodiments, the period of time may include a period ofpicoseconds, nanoseconds, microseconds, milliseconds, seconds, minutes,hours, days, and the like.

Phrases and terms similar to “financial institution,” “transactionaccount issuer” and “payment processor” may include any person, entity,software and/or hardware that offers transaction account services.Although often referred to as a “financial institution,” the financialinstitution may represent any type of bank, lender or other type ofaccount issuing institution, such as credit card companies, cardsponsoring companies, or third party issuers under contract withfinancial institutions. It is further noted that other participants maybe involved in some phases of the transaction, such as an intermediarysettlement institution.

Phrases and terms similar to a “buyer,” “participant”, “consumer,” and“user” may include any person, entity, software and/or hardware thatreceives items (e.g., products, services, access, information, etc) inexchange for consideration (e.g. financial payment). For example, abuyer may purchase, lease, rent, barter or otherwise obtain items from asupplier and pay the supplier using a transaction account.

Phrases or terms similar to a “processor” (such as a payment processor)or “transaction account issuer” may include a company (e.g., a thirdparty) appointed (e.g., by a merchant) to handle transactions formerchant banks Processors may be broken down into two types: front-endand back-end. Front-end processors have connections to varioustransaction accounts and supply authorization and settlement services tothe merchant banks' merchants. Back-end processors accept settlementsfrom front-end processors and, via The Federal Reserve Bank, move moneyfrom an issuing bank to the merchant bank. In an operation that willusually take a few seconds, the payment processor will both check thedetails received by forwarding the details to the respective account'sissuing bank or card association for verification, and may carry out aseries of anti-fraud measures against the transaction. Additionalparameters, including the account's country of issue and its previouspayment history, may be used to gauge the probability of the transactionbeing approved. In response to the payment processor receivingconfirmation that the transaction account details have been verified,the information may be relayed back to the merchant, who will thencomplete the payment transaction. In response to the verification beingdenied, the payment processor relays the information to the merchant,who may then decline the transaction.

As used herein, “transmit” may include sending electronic data from onesystem component to another over a network connection. Additionally, asused herein, “data” may include encompassing information such ascommands, queries, files, data for storage, and the like in digital orany other form.

Phrases or terms similar to “transaction account” may include anyaccount that may be used to facilitate a financial transaction. A“transaction account” as used herein refers to an account associatedwith an open account or a closed account system (as described herein).The transaction account may exist in a physical or non-physicalembodiment. For example, a transaction account may be distributed innon-physical embodiments such as an account number, frequent-flyeraccount, and telephone calling account or the like. Furthermore, aphysical embodiment of a transaction account may be distributed as afinancial instrument.

In general, transaction accounts may be used for transactions betweenthe user and merchant via any suitable communication means, such as, forexample, a telephone network, intranet, the global public Internet, apoint of interaction device (e.g., a point of sale (POS) device,personal digital assistant (PDA), mobile telephone, kiosk, etc.), onlinecommunications, off-line communications, wireless communications, and/orthe like.

The terms “payment vehicle,” “financial transaction instrument,”“transaction instrument,” or “transaction account product” may be usedinterchangeably throughout to refer to a financial instrument or to justan account code. As used herein, an account code may or may not beassociated with a physical financial instrument.

An “account”, “account code”, or “account number”, as used herein, mayinclude any device, code, number, letter, symbol, digital certificate,smart chip, digital signal, analog signal, biometric or otheridentifier/indicia suitably configured to allow the consumer to access,interact with or communicate with the system (e.g., one or more of anauthorization/access code, personal identification number (PIN),Internet code, other identification code, and/or the like). The accountnumber may optionally be located on or associated with a rewards card,charge card, credit card, debit card, prepaid card, telephone card,embossed card, smart card, magnetic stripe card, bar code card,transponder, radio frequency card or an associated account. The systemmay include or interface with any of the foregoing cards or devices, QRcodes, Bluetooth, Near Field Communication, or a transponder and RFIDreader in RF communication with the transponder (which may include afob). Typical devices may include, for example, a key ring, tag, card,cell phone, wristwatch or any such form capable of being presented forinterrogation.

Moreover, the system, computing unit or device discussed herein mayinclude a “pervasive computing device,” which may include atraditionally non-computerized device that is embedded with a computingunit. Examples can include watches, Internet enabled kitchen appliances,restaurant tables embedded with RF readers, wallets or purses withimbedded transponders, etc.

The account code may be distributed and stored in any form of plastic,electronic, magnetic, radio frequency, wireless, audio and/or opticaldevice capable of transmitting or downloading data from itself to asecond device. A customer account code may be, for example, asixteen-digit transaction account code, although each transactionaccount provider has its own numbering system, such as the fifteen-digitnumbering system used by American Express. Each company's transactionaccount codes comply with that company's standardized format such thatthe company using a fifteen-digit format will generally use three-spacedsets of numbers, as represented by the number “0000 000000 00000”. Thefirst five to seven digits are reserved for processing purposes andidentify the issuing bank, card type, etc. In this example, the last(fifteenth) digit is used as a sum check for the fifteen digit number.The intermediary eight-to-eleven digits are used to uniquely identifythe customer. A merchant account code may be, for example, any number oralpha-numeric characters that identify a particular merchant forpurposes of card acceptance, account reconciliation, reporting, or thelike.

It should be noted that the transfer of information in accordance withthe present disclosure, may be completed in a format recognizable by amerchant system or account issuer. In that regard, by way of example,the information may be transmitted from a contactless (e.g., an RFIDdevice) to a contactless (e.g., RFID) reader or from the contactlessreader to the merchant system in a variety of formats, e.g., magneticstripe or multi-track magnetic stripe format.

Referring to FIG. 1, a system 100 for taking an action based on anaction performed by a transaction account holder is shown. Thetransaction account holder may include any transaction accountbeneficiary including a consumer having a shared account, a supplementalaccount, a child account, use of an account, receiving benefits of anaccount, etc. The system may comprise a web-client, such as a web-client102 a and/or 102 b, a network 104, a POS 106, and/or a payment processorsystem 108. The payment processor system 108 may comprise any suitablehardware and/or software. For example, in various embodiments, thepayment processor system 108 may comprise a multi-tier computerarchitecture such as a client-server architecture comprising one or morecomputers, computer servers, and/or the like.

In various embodiments, POS 106 may be coupled to the payment processorsystem 108 by a point-to-point connection, such as a frame relayconnection. Thus, the POS 106 may communicate directly with the paymentprocessor system 108.

A web-client 102 a and/or 102 b may include any device (e.g., personalcomputing device/mobile communication device) which communicates via anynetwork. A web-client may be associated with and/or used by a consumer,a merchant, or both. A web-client 102 a and/or 102 b may include POS106. A web-client may comprise a variety of browsing software or browserapplications (e.g., Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, GoogleChrome, Apple Safari, or any other of the myriad software packagesavailable for browsing the internet). Such browser applications maycomprise Internet browsing software installed within a computing unit ora system to conduct online transactions and/or communications. Thesecomputing units or systems may take the form of a computer or processor,or a set of computers/processors, although other types of computingunits or systems may be used, including laptops, notebooks, hand heldcomputers, personal digital assistants, cellular phones, smart phones(e.g., iPhone®, BlackBerry®, Droid®, etc.) set-top boxes, workstations,computer-servers, main frame computers, mini-computers, PC servers,pervasive computers, network sets of computers, personal computers, suchas iPads, iMACs, and MacBooks, kiosks, terminals, point of sale (POS)devices and/or terminals, televisions, or any other device capable ofreceiving data over a network 104.

As those skilled in the art will appreciate, a web-client may include anoperating system (e.g., Windows NT, 95/98/2000/CE/Mobile, OS2, UNIX,Linux, Solaris, MacOS, PalmOS, etc.) as well as various conventionalsupport software and drivers typically associated with computers. Aweb-client may implement security protocols such as Secure Sockets Layer(SSL) and Transport Layer Security (TLS). A web-client 102 a and/or 102b may implement one or more application layer protocols, including, forexample, http, https, ftp, and sftp. Transactions originating at aweb-client may pass through a firewall (not shown; see below) in orderto prevent unauthorized access from users of other networks.

Where a web-client 102 a and/or 102 b comprises a mobile device, theweb-client 102 a and/or 102 b may include a software application (an“app”) that enables the mobile device, irrespective of brand, tocommunicate with the payment processor portal 108.

A network 104 may comprise any electronic communications system ormethod which incorporates software and/or hardware components.Communication may be accomplished through any suitable communicationchannels, such as, for example, a telephone network, an extranet, anintranet, Internet, point of interaction device (point of sale device,personal digital assistant, smart phone, cellular phone (e.g., iPhone®,Palm Pilot®, Blackberry®), kiosk, etc.), online communications,satellite communications, off-line communications, wirelesscommunications, transponder communications, local area network (LAN),wide area network (WAN), virtual private network (VPN), networked orlinked devices, keyboard, mouse and/or any suitable communication ordata input modality. Moreover, although a network 104 may be describedherein as being implemented with TCP/IP communications protocols, thenetwork 104 may also be implemented using IPX, Appletalk, IP-6, NetBIOS,OSI, any tunneling protocol (e.g. IPsec, SSH), or any number of existingor future protocols. If the network 104 is in the nature of a publicnetwork, such as the Internet, it may be advantageous to presume thenetwork 104 to be insecure and open to eavesdroppers. Specificinformation related to the protocols, standards, and applicationsoftware utilized in connection with the Internet is generally known tothose skilled in the art and, as such, need not be detailed herein. See,for example, DILIP NAIK, INTERNET STANDARDS AND PROTOCOLS (1998); JAVA 2COMPLETE, various authors, (Sybex 1999); DEBORAH RAY AND ERIC RAY,MASTERING HTML 4.0 (1997); and LOSHIN, TCP/IP CLEARLY EXPLAINED (1997)and DAVID GOURLEY AND BRIAN TOTTY, HTTP, THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE (2002),the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

The various system components described herein may be independently,separately or collectively coupled to the network 104 via one or moredata links including, for example, a connection to an Internet ServiceProvider (ISP) over a local loop as is typically used in connection withstandard modem communication, cable modem, Dish networks, ISDN, DigitalSubscriber Line (DSL), or various wireless communication methods, see,e.g., GILBERT HELD, UNDERSTANDING DATA COMMUNICATIONS (1996), which ishereby incorporated by reference. It is noted that the network 104 maybe implemented variously. For example, network 104 may be implemented asan interactive television (ITV) network. The systems and methodsdisclosed herein contemplate the use, sale and/or distribution of anygoods, services or information over any network having functionalitysimilar to that described above with reference to network 104.

With reference now to FIG. 2, a process 200 for a payment processortaking an action based on an action performed by a transaction accountholder is described. In various embodiments, the process 200 maycomprise receiving a notification, by the payment processor system 108,that a transaction account holder (e.g., a customer) has taken an action(step 202).

The action taken by the transaction account holder may vary. Forexample, the action may comprise initiating a transaction request. Thetransaction request may be initiated by entering an account code,swiping a transaction instrument through a POS terminal and/or placing atransaction instrument having contactless payment functionality withinrange of a POS terminal having the similar capability. In addition, theaction may comprise a post made by the transaction account holder to aFACEBOOK wall associated with the transaction account holder,communicating a “tweet” via TWITTER, checking in with a location basedservice (e.g., FOURSQUARE), and/or any of a variety of other similaractions which may be detected by or communicated to the paymentprocessor system 108.

In various embodiments, the system includes a point-to-point connectionwith certain merchant system, so the merchant communications can be innear real time and information can be obtained in near real time. Thepoint-to-point technology can be implemented using a frame relay system.

In response to receiving the notification of the transaction request,the payment processor system 108 may apply a business rule (as describedherein) to the action taken by the transaction account holder in nearreal time (e.g., a matter of milliseconds) (step 204). For example, thepayment processor system 108 may transmit, to web-client 102 a and/or102 b, in response to receiving a transaction request (e.g., a cardswipe at POS 106) a list of information that may be available forselection by the consumer. The payment processor system 108 may alsotransmit a record of the transaction request, a transaction accountbalance, a list of recent transactions, and/or any other transactionaccount information associated with the transaction account holder. Theweb-client 102 a and/or 102 b may display all or any portion of thisinformation for review by the transaction account holder. This updateand transmission to the web-client 102 a and/or 102 b may occur in nearreal time.

In addition, in various embodiments, the payment processor system 108may, in response to a transaction request (e.g., a card swipe at amerchant location) determine whether the transaction account holder is afirst time customer of the merchant or an existing customer of themerchant (e.g., a number of times the transaction account holder hasvisited the merchant). The payment processor system 108 may receivedata, from the payment processor system 108 in near real time, about thetransaction account holder, so that the merchant may tailor its productsand/or services to the preferences of the transaction account holder.

Similarly, in various embodiments, the payment processor system 108 may,in near real time and in response to a transaction request (e.g., a cardswipe), construct, develop, and/or add to a profile associated with thetransaction account holder. For example, the payment processor systemmay construct, develop, and/or add to at least a portion of a profilebased upon purchase data associated with the transaction request. Theprofile may include one or more profiles established by the paymentprocessor, a company, a transaction account profile, a public profile(e.g., Facebook), a consumer created profile, a profile created frompublic or private databases, etc.

Such profile data may be anonymized such that personally identifyinginformation (e.g., transaction account holder name) may be limited,restricted, scrubbed or removed from the profile. The profile may beprovided to any of a variety of (merchant) systems which may use theanonymized profile data to communicate relevant content (e.g., offers,services, products, and the like) to transaction account holders.

In addition, in various embodiments, a transaction account holder may beeligible for a particular offer and/or may select (e.g., via thetransaction account holder's web-client 102 a and/or 102 b) an offer forwhich the transaction account holder is eligible, as partially or fullydetermined by the payment processor system 108. The transaction accountholder may redeem the offer by conducting another purchase by submittinganother transaction request (e.g., a card swipe). The payment processorsystem 108 may, in response, transmit a notification or message to theweb-client 102 a and/or 102 b that the offer has been redeemed in nearreal time. Likewise, the payment processor system 108 may notify thetransaction account holder of the redemption.

Similarly, in various embodiments, a transaction account holder maysubmit a transaction request (e.g., a card swipe), and the paymentprocessor system 108 may, in response, enable the web-client 102 aand/or 102 b to present the transaction account holder an option toconduct the transaction associated with the transaction request usingrewards points, credits, and/or any combination thereof. This option maybe presented in near real time following the transaction request. Inaddition, the rewards points may be immediately applied by the paymentprocessor system 108 to the transaction account holder's transactionaccount (so that the transaction account holder only sees a rewardspoints debit on the transaction account holder's transaction accountstatement). The rewards points may also be applied at a later time tothe transaction account holder's transaction account statement, so thatthe transaction account holder sees a debit and a subsequent credit onthe statement associated with the transaction account holder'stransaction account.

In various embodiments, a transaction account holder using a corporatetransaction account may request a transaction (e.g., swipe a corporatecard). In response, the payment processor 108 may send a notification ormessage to a corporation that employs or is otherwise associated withthe transaction account holder and/or to a web-client 102 a and/or 102 bassociated with the transaction account holder. This may occur in nearreal time following the transaction request.

Moreover, in various embodiments, the payment processor system 108 maymonitor the location of the transaction account holder in near realtime. This may be accomplished, for example, by identifying anassociation between a particular merchant location in response to atransaction request (e.g., a card swipe) made by a transaction accountholder at the merchant location. Similarly, the payment processor system108 may obtain a location of a transaction account holder from acellular or mobile service provider enabled to triangulate and/orotherwise locate a transaction account holder, and/or a GPSreceiver/transceiver located within the transaction account holder'sweb-client 102 a and/or 102 b. In response to the location of thetransaction account holder, the payment processor system 108 may providelocal offers to the transaction account holder and/or detect transactionaccount fraud, for example, where a location of a transaction requestoriginates from a location different from the location of the web-client102 a and/or 102 b (where the web-client comprises a mobile device), asdescribed above.

With regard to FIG. 3, the payment processor system may communicate witha transaction account holder in near real time (step 302), even withoutreceiving an action from the transaction account holder. For example,the payment processor system may communicate an offer to the transactionaccount holder, regardless of receiving anything from the transactionaccount holder. The offer may be communicated by the payment processor108 to the transaction account holder in near real time. The paymentprocessor system may receive a notification or message that thetransaction account holder has performed an action related to the offer(e.g., requesting a transaction related to the offer), in response tothe communication to the transaction account holder (step 304). Forexample, the transaction account holder may accept an offer in near realtime. The payment processor may communicate in near real time with thetransaction account holder that the offer has been accepted, in responseto the notification that the transaction account holder has performedthe action related to the offer, as described above (step 306).

Thus, in various embodiments, an action may be taken in near real timeby the payment processor in response to an action taken by a transactionaccount consumer and/or payment processor 108 may encourage atransaction account holder to take an action (e.g., by transmitting anoffer to the transaction account holder).

Any of the communications described above may be transmitted to acustomer's web-client 102 a and/or 102 b, in near real time, as well asvia any channel. The channel may include, for example, a softwareapplication installed on the customer's web-client 102 a and/or 102 b,or any other communication channel, such as email, text messaging,FACEBOOK, TWITTER, FOURSQUARE, and the like (step 206).

In the detailed description herein, references to “one embodiment”, “anembodiment”, “an example embodiment”, “various embodiments”, etc.,indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature,structure, or characteristic, but every embodiment may not necessarilyinclude the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover,such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment.Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic isdescribed in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it iswithin the knowledge of one skilled in the art to effect such feature,structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodimentswhether or not explicitly described. After reading the description, itwill be apparent to one skilled in the relevant art(s) how to implementthe disclosure in certain embodiments.

In various embodiments, the methods described herein are implementedusing the various particular machines described herein. The methodsdescribed herein may be implemented using the particular machines, andthose hereinafter developed, in any suitable combination, as would beappreciated immediately by one skilled in the art. Further, as isunambiguous from this disclosure, the methods described herein mayresult in various transformations of certain articles.

For the sake of brevity, conventional data networking, applicationdevelopment and other functional aspects of the systems (and componentsof the individual operating components of the systems) may not bedescribed in detail herein. Furthermore, the connecting lines shown inthe various figures contained herein are intended to represent exemplaryfunctional relationships and/or physical couplings between the variouselements. It should be noted that many alternative or additionalfunctional relationships or physical connections may be present in apractical system.

The various system components discussed herein may include one or moreof the following: a host server or other computing systems including aprocessor for processing digital data; a memory coupled to the processorfor storing digital data; an input digitizer coupled to the processorfor inputting digital data; an application program stored in the memoryand accessible by the processor for directing processing of digital databy the processor; a display device coupled to the processor and memoryfor displaying information derived from digital data processed by theprocessor; and a plurality of databases. Various databases used hereinmay include: client data; merchant data; financial institution data;and/or like data useful in the operation of the system. As those skilledin the art will appreciate, user computer may include an operatingsystem (e.g., Windows NT, 95/98/2000, XP, Vista, OS2, UNIX, Linux,Solaris, MacOS, etc.) as well as various conventional support softwareand drivers typically associated with computers. A user may include anyindividual, business, entity, government organization, software and/orhardware that interact with a system.

In an embodiment, various components, modules, and/or engines of system100 may be implemented as micro-applications or micro-apps. Micro-appsare typically deployed in the context of a mobile operating system,including for example, a Palm mobile operating system, a Windows mobileoperating system, an Android Operating System, Apple iOS, a Blackberryoperating system and the like. The micro-app may be configured toleverage the resources of the larger operating system and associatedhardware via a set of predetermined rules which govern the operations ofvarious operating systems and hardware resources. For example, where amicro-app desires to communicate with a device or network other than themobile device or mobile operating system, the micro-app may leverage thecommunication protocol of the operating system and associated devicehardware under the predetermined rules of the mobile operating system.Moreover, where the micro-app desires an input from a user, themicro-app may be configured to request a response from the operatingsystem which monitors various hardware components and then communicatesa detected input from the hardware to the micro-app.

The system contemplates uses in association with web services, utilitycomputing, pervasive and individualized computing, security and identitysolutions, autonomic computing, cloud computing, commodity computing,mobility and wireless solutions, open source, biometrics, grid computingand/or mesh computing.

Any databases discussed herein may include relational, hierarchical,graphical, or object-oriented structure and/or any other databaseconfigurations. Common database products that may be used to implementthe databases include DB2 by IBM (Armonk, N.Y.), various databaseproducts available from Oracle Corporation (Redwood Shores, Calif.),Microsoft Access or Microsoft SQL Server by Microsoft Corporation(Redmond, Wash.), MySQL by MySQL AB (Uppsala, Sweden), or any othersuitable database product. Moreover, the databases may be organized inany suitable manner, for example, as data tables or lookup tables. Eachrecord may be a single file, a series of files, a linked series of datafields or any other data structure. Association of certain data may beaccomplished through any desired data association technique such asthose known or practiced in the art. For example, the association may beaccomplished either manually or automatically. Automatic associationtechniques may include, for example, a database search, a databasemerge, GREP, AGREP, SQL, using a key field in the tables to speedsearches, sequential searches through all the tables and files, sortingrecords in the file according to a known order to simplify lookup,and/or the like. The association step may be accomplished by a databasemerge function, for example, using a “key field” in pre-selecteddatabases or data sectors. Various database tuning steps arecontemplated to optimize database performance. For example, frequentlyused files such as indexes may be placed on separate file systems toreduce In/Out (“I/O”) bottlenecks.

More particularly, a “key field” partitions the database according tothe high-level class of objects defined by the key field. For example,certain types of data may be designated as a key field in a plurality ofrelated data tables and the data tables may then be linked on the basisof the type of data in the key field. The data corresponding to the keyfield in each of the linked data tables is preferably the same or of thesame type. However, data tables having similar, though not identical,data in the key fields may also be linked by using AGREP, for example.In accordance with one embodiment, any suitable data storage techniquemay be utilized to store data without a standard format. Data sets maybe stored using any suitable technique, including, for example, storingindividual files using an ISO/IEC 7816-4 file structure; implementing adomain whereby a dedicated file is selected that exposes one or moreelementary files containing one or more data sets; using data setsstored in individual files using a hierarchical filing system; data setsstored as records in a single file (including compression, SQLaccessible, hashed via one or more keys, numeric, alphabetical by firsttuple, etc.); Binary Large Object (BLOB); stored as ungrouped dataelements encoded using ISO/IEC 7816-6 data elements; stored as ungroupeddata elements encoded using ISO/IEC Abstract Syntax Notation (ASN.1) asin ISO/IEC 8824 and 8825; and/or other proprietary techniques that mayinclude fractal compression methods, image compression methods, etc.

In one exemplary embodiment, the ability to store a wide variety ofinformation in different formats is facilitated by storing theinformation as a BLOB. Thus, any binary information can be stored in astorage space associated with a data set. As discussed above, the binaryinformation may be stored on the financial transaction instrument orexternal to but affiliated with the financial transaction instrument.The BLOB method may store data sets as ungrouped data elements formattedas a block of binary via a fixed memory offset using fixed storageallocation, circular queue techniques, or best practices with respect tomemory management (e.g., paged memory, least recently used, etc.). Byusing BLOB methods, the ability to store various data sets that havedifferent formats facilitates the storage of data associated with thefinancial transaction instrument by multiple and unrelated owners of thedata sets. For example, a first data set which may be stored may beprovided by a first party, a second data set which may be stored may beprovided by an unrelated second party, and yet a third data set whichmay be stored, may be provided by an third party unrelated to the firstand second party. Each of these three exemplary data sets may containdifferent information that is stored using different data storageformats and/or techniques. Further, each data set may contain subsets ofdata that also may be distinct from other subsets.

As stated above, in various embodiments, the data can be stored withoutregard to a common format. However, in one exemplary embodiment, thedata set (e.g., BLOB) may be annotated in a standard manner whenprovided for manipulating the data onto the financial transactioninstrument. The annotation may comprise a short header, trailer, orother appropriate indicator related to each data set that is configuredto convey information useful in managing the various data sets. Forexample, the annotation may be called a “condition header”, “header”,“trailer”, or “status”, herein, and may comprise an indication of thestatus of the data set or may include an identifier correlated to aspecific issuer or owner of the data. In one example, the first threebytes of each data set BLOB may be configured or configurable toindicate the status of that particular data set; e.g., LOADED,INITIALIZED, READY, BLOCKED, REMOVABLE, or DELETED. Subsequent bytes ofdata may be used to indicate for example, the identity of the issuer,user, transaction/membership account identifier or the like. Each ofthese condition annotations are further discussed herein.

The data set annotation may also be used for other types of statusinformation as well as various other purposes. For example, the data setannotation may include security information establishing access levels.The access levels may, for example, be configured to permit only certainindividuals, levels of employees, companies, or other entities to accessdata sets, or to permit access to specific data sets based on thetransaction, merchant, issuer, user or the like. Furthermore, thesecurity information may restrict/permit only certain actions such asaccessing, modifying, and/or deleting data sets. In one example, thedata set annotation indicates that only the data set owner or the userare permitted to delete a data set, various identified users may bepermitted to access the data set for reading, and others are altogetherexcluded from accessing the data set. However, other access restrictionparameters may also be used allowing various entities to access a dataset with various permission levels as appropriate.

The data, including the header or trailer may be received by a standalone interaction device configured to add, delete, modify, or augmentthe data in accordance with the header or trailer. As such, in oneembodiment, the header or trailer is not stored on the transactiondevice along with the associated issuer-owned data but instead theappropriate action may be taken by providing to the transactioninstrument user at the stand alone device, the appropriate option forthe action to be taken. The system may contemplate a data storagearrangement wherein the header or trailer, or header or trailer history,of the data is stored on the transaction instrument in relation to theappropriate data.

One skilled in the art will also appreciate that, for security reasons,any databases, systems, devices, servers or other components of thesystem may consist of any combination thereof at a single location or atmultiple locations, wherein each database or system includes any ofvarious suitable security features, such as firewalls, access codes,encryption, decryption, compression, decompression, and/or the like.

A firewall may comprise any hardware and/or software suitably configuredto protect system 100 components and/or enterprise computing resourcesfrom users of other networks. Further, a firewall may be configured tolimit or restrict access to various systems and components behind thefirewall for web-clients connecting through a web server. A firewall mayreside in varying configurations including Stateful Inspection, Proxybased, access control lists, and Packet Filtering among others. Afirewall may be integrated within a web server or any other CMScomponents or may further reside as a separate entity. A firewall mayimplement network address translation (“NAT”) and/or network addressport translation (“NAPT”). A firewall may accommodate various tunnelingprotocols to facilitate secure communications, such as those used invirtual private networking. A firewall may implement a demilitarizedzone (“DMZ”) to facilitate communications with a public network such asthe Internet. A firewall may be integrated as software within anInternet server, any other application server components or may residewithin another computing device or may take the form of a standalonehardware component.

Encryption may be performed by way of any of the techniques nowavailable in the art or which may become available—e.g., Twofish, RSA,El Gamal, Schorr signature, DSA, PGP, PKI, and symmetric and asymmetriccryptosystems.

The computers discussed herein may provide a suitable website or otherInternet-based graphical user interface which is accessible by users. Inone embodiment, the Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS),Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS), and Microsoft SQL Server, are usedin conjunction with the Microsoft operating system, Microsoft NT webserver software, a Microsoft SQL Server database system, and a MicrosoftCommerce Server. Additionally, components such as Access or MicrosoftSQL Server, Oracle, Sybase, Informix MySQL, Interbase, etc., may be usedto provide an Active Data Object (ADO) compliant database managementsystem. In one embodiment, the Apache web server is used in conjunctionwith a Linux operating system, a MySQL database, and the Perl, PHP,and/or Python programming languages.

Any of the communications, inputs, storage, databases or displaysdiscussed herein may be facilitated through a website having web pages.The term “web page” as it is used herein is not meant to limit the typeof documents and applications that might be used to interact with theuser. For example, a typical website might include, in addition tostandard HTML documents, various forms, Java applets, JavaScript, activeserver pages (ASP), common gateway interface scripts (CGI), extensiblemarkup language (XML), dynamic HTML, cascading style sheets (CSS), AJAX(Asynchronous Javascript And XML), helper applications, plug-ins, andthe like. A server may include a web service that receives a requestfrom a web server, the request including a URL(http://yahoo.com/stockquotes/ge) and an IP address (123.56.789.234).The web server retrieves the appropriate web pages and sends the data orapplications for the web pages to the IP address. Web services areapplications that are capable of interacting with other applicationsover a communications means, such as the internet. Web services aretypically based on standards or protocols such as XML, SOAP, AJAX, WSDLand UDDI. Web services methods are well known in the art, and arecovered in many standard texts. See, e.g., ALEX NGHIEM, IT WEB SERVICES:A ROADMAP FOR THE ENTERPRISE (2003), hereby incorporated by reference.

Middleware may include any hardware and/or software suitably configuredto facilitate communications and/or process transactions betweendisparate computing systems. Middleware components are commerciallyavailable and known in the art. Middleware may be implemented throughcommercially available hardware and/or software, through custom hardwareand/or software components, or through a combination thereof. Middlewaremay reside in a variety of configurations and may exist as a standalonesystem or may be a software component residing on the Internet server.Middleware may be configured to process transactions between the variouscomponents of an application server and any number of internal orexternal systems for any of the purposes disclosed herein. WebSphere MQ™(formerly MQSeries) by IBM, Inc. (Armonk, N.Y.) is an example of acommercially available middleware product. An Enterprise Service Bus(“ESB”) application is another example of middleware.

Practitioners will also appreciate that there are a number of methodsfor displaying data within a browser-based document. Data may berepresented as standard text or within a fixed list, scrollable list,drop-down list, editable text field, fixed text field, pop-up window,and the like. Likewise, there are a number of methods available formodifying data in a web page such as, for example, free text entry usinga keyboard, selection of menu items, check boxes, option boxes, and thelike.

The system and method may be described herein in terms of functionalblock components, screen shots, optional selections and variousprocessing steps. It should be appreciated that such functional blocksmay be realized by any number of hardware and/or software componentsconfigured to perform the specified functions. For example, the systemmay employ various integrated circuit components, e.g., memory elements,processing elements, logic elements, look-up tables, and the like, whichmay carry out a variety of functions under the control of one or moremicroprocessors or other control devices. Similarly, the softwareelements of the system may be implemented with any programming orscripting language such as C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, VBScript,Macromedia Cold Fusion, COBOL, Microsoft Active Server Pages, assembly,PERL, PHP, awk, Python, Visual Basic, SQL Stored Procedures, PL/SQL, anyUNIX shell script, and extensible markup language (XML) with the variousalgorithms being implemented with any combination of data structures,objects, processes, routines or other programming elements. Further, itshould be noted that the system may employ any number of conventionaltechniques for data transmission, signaling, data processing, networkcontrol, and the like. Still further, the system could be used to detector prevent security issues with a client-side scripting language, suchas JavaScript, VBScript or the like. For a basic introduction ofcryptography and network security, see any of the following references:(1) “Applied Cryptography: Protocols, Algorithms, And Source Code In C,”by Bruce Schneier, published by John Wiley & Sons (second edition,1995); (2) “Java Cryptography” by Jonathan Knudson, published byO'Reilly & Associates (1998); (3) “Cryptography & Network Security:Principles & Practice” by William Stallings, published by Prentice Hall;all of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

As used herein, the term “end user”, “consumer”, “customer”,“cardmember”, “business” or “merchant” may be used interchangeably witheach other, and each shall mean any person, entity, machine, hardware,software or business. A bank may be part of the system, but the bank mayrepresent other types of card issuing institutions, such as credit cardcompanies, card sponsoring companies, or third party issuers undercontract with financial institutions. It is further noted that otherparticipants may be involved in some phases of the transaction, such asan intermediary settlement institution, but these participants are notshown.

Each participant is equipped with a computing device in order tointeract with the system and facilitate online commerce transactions.The customer has a computing unit in the form of a personal computer,although other types of computing units may be used including laptops,notebooks, hand held computers, set-top boxes, cellular telephones,touch-tone telephones and the like. The merchant has a computing unitimplemented in the form of a computer-server, although otherimplementations are contemplated by the system. The bank has a computingcenter shown as a main frame computer. However, the bank computingcenter may be implemented in other forms, such as a mini-computer, a PCserver, a network of computers located in the same of differentgeographic locations, or the like. Moreover, the system contemplates theuse, sale or distribution of any goods, services or information over anynetwork having similar functionality described herein.

The merchant computer and the bank computer may be interconnected via asecond network, referred to as a payment network. The payment networkwhich may be part of certain transactions represents existingproprietary networks that presently accommodate transactions for creditcards, debit cards, and other types of financial/banking cards. Thepayment network is a closed network that is assumed to be secure fromeavesdroppers. Exemplary transaction networks may include the AmericanExpress®, VisaNet® and the Veriphone® networks.

The electronic commerce system may be implemented at the customer andissuing bank. In an exemplary implementation, the electronic commercesystem is implemented as computer software modules loaded onto thecustomer computer and the banking computing center. The merchantcomputer does not require any additional software to participate in theonline commerce transactions supported by the online commerce system.

As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, the systemmay be embodied as a customization of an existing system, an add-onproduct, upgraded software, a stand alone system, a distributed system,a method, a data processing system, a device for data processing, and/ora computer program product. Accordingly, the system may take the form ofan entirely software embodiment, an entirely hardware embodiment, or anembodiment combining aspects of both software and hardware. Furthermore,the system may take the form of a computer program product on acomputer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program codemeans embodied in the storage medium. Any suitable computer-readablestorage medium may be utilized, including hard disks, CD-ROM, opticalstorage devices, magnetic storage devices, and/or the like.

The system and method is described herein with reference to screenshots, block diagrams and flowchart illustrations of methods, apparatus(e.g., systems), and computer program products according to variousembodiments. It will be understood that each functional block of theblock diagrams and the flowchart illustrations, and combinations offunctional blocks in the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations,respectively, can be implemented by computer program instructions.

These computer program instructions may be loaded onto a general purposecomputer, special purpose computer, or other programmable dataprocessing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructionsthat execute on the computer or other programmable data processingapparatus create means for implementing the functions specified in theflowchart block or blocks. These computer program instructions may alsobe stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablememory produce an article of manufacture including instruction meanswhich implement the function specified in the flowchart block or blocks.The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series ofoperational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmableapparatus to produce a computer-implemented process such that theinstructions which execute on the computer or other programmableapparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in theflowchart block or blocks.

Accordingly, functional blocks of the block diagrams and flowchartillustrations support combinations of means for performing the specifiedfunctions, combinations of steps for performing the specified functions,and program instruction means for performing the specified functions. Itwill also be understood that each functional block of the block diagramsand flowchart illustrations, and combinations of functional blocks inthe block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, can be implemented byeither special purpose hardware-based computer systems which perform thespecified functions or steps, or suitable combinations of specialpurpose hardware and computer instructions. Further, illustrations ofthe process flows and the descriptions thereof may make reference touser windows, webpages, websites, web forms, prompts, etc. Practitionerswill appreciate that the illustrated steps described herein may comprisein any number of configurations including the use of windows, webpages,web forms, popup windows, prompts and the like. It should be furtherappreciated that the multiple steps as illustrated and described may becombined into single webpages and/or windows but have been expanded forthe sake of simplicity. In other cases, steps illustrated and describedas single process steps may be separated into multiple webpages and/orwindows but have been combined for simplicity.

Benefits, other advantages, and solutions to problems have beendescribed herein with regard to specific embodiments. However, thebenefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any elements that maycause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become morepronounced are not to be construed as critical, required, or essentialfeatures or elements of the disclosure. The scope of the disclosure isaccordingly to be limited by nothing other than the appended claims, inwhich reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean“one and only one” unless explicitly so stated, but rather “one ormore.” Moreover, where a phrase similar to ‘at least one of A, B, and C’or ‘at least one of A, B, or C’ is used in the claims or specification,it is intended that the phrase be interpreted to mean that A alone maybe present in an embodiment, B alone may be present in an embodiment, Calone may be present in an embodiment, or that any combination of theelements A, B and C may be present in a single embodiment; for example,A and B, A and C, B and C, or A and B and C. Although the inventionshave been described as a method in certain embodiments, it iscontemplated that it may be embodied as computer program instructions ona tangible computer-readable carrier, such as a magnetic or opticalmemory or a magnetic or optical disk. All structural, chemical, andfunctional equivalents to the elements of the above-described exemplaryembodiments that are known to those of ordinary skill in the art areexpressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to beencompassed by the present claims. Moreover, it is not necessary for adevice or method to address each and every problem sought to be solvedby the present disclosure, for it to be encompassed by the presentclaims. Furthermore, no element, component, or method step in thepresent disclosure is intended to be dedicated to the public regardlessof whether the element, component, or method step is explicitly recitedin the claims. No claim element herein is to be construed under theprovisions of 35 U.S.C. 112(f) unless the element is expressly recitedusing the phrase “means for.” As used herein, the terms “comprises”,“comprising”, or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover anon-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, orapparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only thoseelements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherentto such process, method, article, or apparatus.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving, by acomputer-based system configured to process a transaction, anotification that a transaction account holder has taken a first action;and communicating, by the computer-based system and in near real time,with a web-client associated with the transaction account holder, inresponse to the first action taken by the transaction account holder. 2.The method of claim 1, further comprising taking, by the computer-basedsystem and in near real time, a second action in response to the firstaction taken by the transaction account holder.
 3. The method of claim1, further comprising communicating a transaction balance to theweb-client in response to the first action taken by the transactionaccount holder.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprisingtransmitting, to a merchant, suggested services based upon a profileassociated with the transaction account holder.
 5. The method of claim1, wherein the transaction account holder is presented with an option tocomplete the transaction using rewards points.
 6. The method of claim 1,wherein the transaction account holder is presented with an option tocomplete the transaction using credit.
 7. The method of claim 1, whereinthe location of the transaction account is monitored.
 8. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the location of the transaction account holder ismonitored to tailor services to the transaction account holder.
 9. Anarticle of manufacture including a non-transitory, tangible computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored thereon that, inresponse to execution by a payment processor computer-based system,cause the computer-based system to perform operations comprising:receiving, by a computer-based system for processing a transaction, anotification that a transaction account holder has taken a first action;and communicating, by the computer-based system and in near real time,with a web-client associated with the transaction account holder inresponse to the first action taken by the transaction account holder.10. The article of claim 9, further comprising taking, by thecomputer-based system and in near real time, a second action in responseto the first action taken by the transaction account holder.
 11. Thearticle of claim 9, further comprising communicating a transactionbalance to the web-client in response to the first action taken by thetransaction account holder.
 12. The article of claim 9, furthercomprising transmitting, to a merchant, suggested services based upon aprofile associated with the transaction account holder.
 13. The articleof claim 9, wherein the transaction account holder is presented with anoption to complete the transaction using rewards points.
 13. The articleof claim 9, wherein the transaction account holder is presented with anoption to complete the transaction using credit.
 14. The article ofclaim 9, wherein the location of the transaction account holder ismonitored to tailor services to the transaction account holder.
 15. Asystem comprising: a tangible, non-transitory memory communicating witha processor configured to processor a transaction, the tangible,non-transitory memory having instructions stored thereon that, inresponse to execution by the processor, cause the processor to performoperations; receiving, by the processor, a notification that atransaction account holder has taken a first action; and communicating,by the processor and in real time, with a web-client associated with thetransaction account holder in response to the first action taken by thetransaction account holder.
 16. The system of claim 15, furthercomprising taking, by the processor and in near real time, a secondaction in response to the first action taken by the transaction accountholder.
 17. The system of claim 15, further comprising communicating atransaction balance to the web-client in response to the first actiontaken by the transaction account holder.
 18. The system of claim 15,further comprising transmitting, to a merchant, suggested services basedupon a profile associated with the transaction account holder.
 19. Thesystem of claim 15, wherein the transaction account holder is presentedwith an option to complete the transaction using rewards points.
 20. Thesystem of claim 15, wherein the transaction account holder is presentedwith an option to complete the transaction using credit.